Doing Politics Through the Lens of Faith

FACULTY: Rev. Matthew Best
COST: $75
DATES: Thursdays at 7:00 PM beginning August 27, 2020

This five-week course will explore politics through the lens of faith. We’ll explore what politics actually is and how faith and politics are related. Through real life examples, stories, and Scripture, students will examine their own beliefs about politics and faith, and come away ready to “do” politics in a faith-filled way.

Gospel Hospitality

FACULTY: Richard Jorgensen & Marsha Roscoe
COST: $75 or free with a SBF Voucher
DATES: Mondays at 6:00 PM beginning September 28

This course teaches the basics of gospel hospitality: from signage, to welcoming space, to what happens when someone comes to the church for the first time. Students will learn how to examine their current context for intentional and unintentional gospel practices and inconsistencies.

Missional Stewardship: Investing in what Matters to God

FACULTY: The Rev. Richard Jorgensen
COST: $75 or free with a SBF Voucher
DATES: Mondays at 6:00 PM beginning August 31

Description: How do we use what we have been given to advance God’s mission? Too often, stewardship is reduced to fundraising. In this class, we will look at investing our resources in what matters most to God. Talking about money, assets, gifts and passions and care of creation, we will explore how we can use our lives and resources to serve and love God, our neighbors and the world.

Post Pandemic Church I & II

FACULTY: The Rev. Canon Chris Streeter
COST: $75 or free with a SBF Voucher
DATES: Thursdays at 6:00 PM

The season of COVID-19 has seen changes to some of our core, spiritual practices. Some of these pandemic adaptions have felt necessary and creative. Others have felt disorienting and uncomfortable. As our communities return to more familiar and “normal” routines, what learnings from this time might we choose to incorporate? How do we resist the temptations that can draw us to a place of comfort and complacency? How will we continue harvesting spirit-led innovations post pandemic?

This series of discussions, offered as part of our Shaped by Faith initiative in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, will enable church leaders to discern how we will guide the shaping our communities on the other side of Covidtide. Drawing on the experience of practitioners from across our Diocese and the wider church, and utilizing data gathered by our Diocesan Task Force on Theology & Ecclesiology, our areas of focus will include liturgy and worship, pastoral offices, evangelism, fellowship, outreach and faith formation.

Stewardship: Best Practices

FACULTY: The Rev. Rob Blezard
COST: $75 or free with a SBF Voucher
DATES: Thursdays at 6:00 PM beginning October 1

To be done well, congregational stewardship requires a balancing act between two often-conflicting aims. On the one side is the need to help congregants develop a faithful understanding of their money and God’s abundant blessings in their lives. On the other side is the need for the congregation to develop the financial means to fund the ministries that serve God’s people. This class will examine some of the best practices to balance these two influences, so that people will grow in their discipleship and the ministry will grow in its financial resources.